


scenes from a family, pt. 1

by whateverliesunsaid



Series: a crash course in human experiences [4]
Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Gen, and should have a new home, edward and emmett briefly mentioned, its just scenes from moments they would have together, that i wrote on tumblr forever ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28864980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whateverliesunsaid/pseuds/whateverliesunsaid
Summary: Two times Bella and Esme come together— alternatively, on healing parental dynamics.
Relationships: Alice Cullen & Bella Swan, Alice Cullen & Esme Cullen, Esme Cullen & Bella Swan
Series: a crash course in human experiences [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112324
Kudos: 6





	scenes from a family, pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote most of these bits forever ago on tumblr completely unrelated to one another but putting them together now felt right, so here you have it, not even beta'd. what's new?

> **01**.

“Damn it, we are gonna figure something out if it takes me all night!” It’s both uncharacteristic and a battle cry all Esme’s own, with the way she stakes her claim, elbows deep in a box of parties supplies they had successfully (and on her case: _easily_ ) carried over to the living room from the car.

“It’s okay, we have enough time. We got this.” she is definitely unsure of her own words, but with an obstinate Esme by her side, Bella is sure that they will accomplish their goal. Of course, it also isn’t exceedingly hard to do it once they find a plan to begin with. Edward’s birthday was the following morning. It had taken them many, many months of stubborn _not_ -planning and _not_ -anticipating it to avoid his awareness but while he was out to hunt with Emmett, it was their shot to finally do it: an authentic 1910s birthday celebration. Bella pulled her hair up in a bun while Esme paced around.

Of course, to vampires that meant lots and lots of decorations (and party games) but so far their decoration layout was pretty… uninspired. It is quite odd to plan a birthday party with no cake at the center, but the mere idea of an alternative stands in the liminal space between joke and stomach churning where Edward sometimes reacted chaotically. And so, Bella put a vintage record into the record player slowly, unsure of where exactly did that darned needle go, after all.

Esme flitted over in her ballerina steps and helped her, cool fingers leading hers into motion until there was music ringing out. She smiled at Esme thankfully, held her fingers in her palm encouragingly and said: “Let’s pick some books, google some tutorials... I’m telling you, I’ve done this kind of stuff before. All we need is to know is what’s the goal.”

“The goal is to make Edward so happy he can’t stop smiling for a whole evening. How’s that?” Esme proposes, warmed by her motion and only slightly overwhelmed by the amount of work and little preparation Edward’s skill had awarded them.

“Sounds lovely.” Bella said, turning around to look at their pile of items, wondering where to start and how to get it over quickly, a guilty tone slipping into her voice when she finally admits: “I do wish Alice were here, though.”

Esme laughs. “You tell me!”

Beside the gramophone, Bella’s phone buzzes at the new text message:

> **SMS — ALICE CULLEN:** I’M ON MY WAY!

“We should’ve complained sooner, huh?” Esme says before Bella can close her mouth from the sheer surprise of it all, which finally breaks her spell into shocked laughter.

“Oh, _absolutely_.”

> **02.**

“Anyway i can help?” she's almost sheepish, sneaking into the kitchen (sparkling appliances so recently bought to appease her sitting pretty and waiting, waiting!) though it’s quite clear Esme is not surprised by her arrival in the slightest — her thunderous Chevy left very little to the imagination as far as vampires were concerned.

In the kitchen, with a look dancing between puzzlement and focus, Esme was writing down in her notepad, all the food items — some of them surprisingly mismatched — laying in the counter for her to see.

After their original dinner party, Edward had made a point of stopping the cooking for Bella’s train in its tracks for Emmett and Esme’s special chagrin although those were entirely opposite in motivation.

“I’m a surprisingly good cook,” she offered and Esme smiled. Esme is puzzled, indeed. Her newly bought cookbooks were spread around her, it’s techniques so different from when she used to do it regularly it almost took her entirely by surprise. At Bella’s offer, however, the worry sitting inside her chest blossomed and fell away like roses.

She flitted over to Bella’s side, embracing her softly before coming right back to her items, a shrug rolling over her shoulders as she explained: “i guess we went overboard with the Bella shopping that first day and now I’m unsure on what to make of any of this!”

A pearl of laughter rolled forth from her, a most delicate sound, covering a special brand of shyness that perhaps, just _perhaps_ , Bella would be recognizant of. However evanescent was the choice that led these two families together, Esme could never forget how perfectly matched Bella was in their century-long created ecosystem. Her addition causing no lasting ripples, no damage at all — in fact, it _improved_ it. Bella’s love filled their home with song, as Edward had found a muse and inspiration, which made her belong exactly where she was; even after the unfortunate occasion of James’ hunt, Bella belonged next to Edward — among them. Accepting her aid was nothing short of easy, it was as simple as breathing.

“I want to make meals for the homeless— in Seattle , or maybe Port Angeles— I’d be very grateful for a helping hand , but only if it’s no trouble.” she posed many questions sitting unanswered inside her chest spilling forward in complicit trust . “Do you suppose this is enough?”

“That depends,” Bella starts, a penchant for the practicalities of life springing forward with ease (well rehearsed choreography, after a lifelong management of her mother’s whims and she approaches the pile, trained eye estimating possibilities. “On how many people you’re trying to feed, really. I’d say this could go for ten, maybe fifteen meals— if we’re creative.” For as much as she avoided getting praise for it, Bella’s undeniable talent in meal prepping made her just the right person to assist Esme. Somewhere in the edge of her awareness, she could predict Edward’s amusement at this scene. Leave it to Bella Swan to make a mock kitchen full — and leave it to Esme to find something useful to do with it. Esme’s laughter eased the part of Bella that still felt awkward around his relatives without Edward’s presence, not out of fear but pure, unabashed otherness. A part of her still felt on trial: as if their opinion were yet to be made — though Esme made it easy to believe she was already accepted every time.

“What’s the hang-up? Haven’t found a good recipe?” she tuts, tongue clicking at the top of her mouth pensively. Peeking into the open cookbooks where pictures of beautiful, but highly impractical food peeked right back at her.

“Not… Quite.” More so, a greater problem had arisen: after long enough of not eating… You lose your taste for it. And your _palate_. So it was a doomed idea to do this unaccompanied from the start and nothing but an amazing stroke of luck that Bella would drop in just in time, as usual. “I was in search of something that can’t go wrong, _even for vampires_.” She speaks with a sense of humor all her own, though Bella can see the ways in which Emmet and Esme had come together in it— despite the overall miscellaneous nature of their house of oddities. If they had been actual mother and son, they couldn’t have been better matched for it. She chuckles at it, almost beyond her own control, and picks up a few carrots mindlessly while she considers Esme’s concern.

“Soup is good. Easy, helps with the cold, better to make in large quantity…” Bella argues, lifting her brow at Esme, an invitation lingering in her tone. “I’ll help as long as you do the knife stuff.”

“My dear Bella, you are a life saver, have I told you that?” Her simple, punching lilt where every word felt lifted and alive made Bella feel impossibly affected, memories of her grandmother’s kitchen sneaking into the cupboards so she would find them later, happy and pleased to linger for a while longer— fostering new joy.

> **3.**

“I think we did it!” Esme proclaims, hands settling heavy and proud on her hips as they inspect the room from the foyer’s point of view.

“I told you we would.” Bella reminds her softly before raising her voice comically and unnecessarily to say: “Though, it would be remiss not to say: thank you, Alice!”

“Thought you’d never thank me, oh my god!” She calls back from the upper floor, mock annoyance in her words barely disguising how truly joyous she was at seeing their home ready for another party, a clean slate altogether. “Now come up and change, the both of you! We’ve got less than five minutes before they arrive!”


End file.
